The first discussion they will hold during the opening keynote on February 6 is titled “Storytelling Across Platforms: Who Benefits Most, the Audience or the Player?” will be about how suspense, action and emotion can be captured in video games.

Newell will also give the keynote on Febuary 7 titled “A View on Next Steps” which will see him talk about the direction the industry is going, and Valve's plans for Steam Big Picture, their controller frieldly interface for Steam. Newell will also be honored at the upcoming 16th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.

It's always interesting to hear what Gabe Newell thinks of the games industry past, present and future, with his most recent comments being that developers will be moving towards Linux based systems – something that Valve themselves are doing.